Phenotypic Detection Of Carbapenemase Production Among Klebsiella Spp From Clinical Samples From A Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Carbapenemase produced by Klebsiella pneumoniae can confer resistance to all β-lactam agents including carbapenems. The enzyme may develop low-level carbapenem resistance, leads to failure of routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods to identify this mechanism of resistance. Automated and nonautomated methods for carbapenem susceptibility were evaluated by various studies. In our study a total of 160 isolates of Klebsiella were isolated from various clinical specimens. Out of 160, 101( 63.1%) showed resistance to carbapenem tested in study and was considered screen test positive. On confirmation of Carbapenamase production by Modefied  Hodge test, Modified Carbapenem Inactivation(mCIM) method and EDTA –Modified Carbapenem inactivation method(eCIM), 76.2%, 92.1% and 92.1% isolates showed production of carbapenemase respectively .